Chapter 708 Hewan Village, Arrival at the Great River

The Sierra Madre Oriental is a continuous and towering mountain range that stretches from north to south, dividing the Tlaxcala Plateau and the Totonac Lowlands. In the southeast of the mountain range, there is a towering peak that reaches the sky. It is the third highest mountain in North America, the sacred mountain of Citlaltépetl. In the Nahua language, "citlal" means "star" and "tepētl" means high mountain. Therefore, this sacred mountain with an altitude of 5,600 meters is called "Star Mountain" by the local mountain tribes.

"Star Mountain" is towering and the mountain range stretches. The long adobe river originates from the foot of Star Mountain, winding all the way east, flowing through Tuhe City and Yudiao City, and traveling more than 700 miles, and then it comes to Hewan Village, which is only 20 miles away from the estuary.

When the river reaches this place, it has gathered streams from 700 miles of land, becoming turbulent, vast and broad. When the heaviest rainy season arrives, the water level of the entire river will rise by six or seven meters, becoming the most natural dividing line between the East and West Totonac lands.

"Praise the Lord! What a great river!"

Tupa, wearing leather armor, carrying a longbow, and with a dozen guards, stood on a hill only one mile away from the Hewan Village. He ignored the noisy fighting and shouting in front of the Hewan Village, but looked at the mighty river flowing from the upper reaches of the south, and smiled.

"If we can take the whole river, from the land of Tlaxcala to the east, there will be another convenient waterway! At that time, the army will go south from the plateau, and it will only take more than ten days to reach the Golden Bay City on the East Sea."

Tupa thought for a moment and turned around. He looked at a tribal chief standing behind him with his head bowed, and asked with a smile.

"Well, Quicamar, am I right?"

Hearing the sudden question, Quicamar trembled all over. As one of the surrendered chiefs of the Tuhe tribes, he had seen the sacrifices of other noble chiefs with his own eyes, and knew the horror of the general in front of him. At the moment, although he survived by chance, he was always uneasy in his heart.

"Ah! Chief Tupa, you are right!"

"Oh? Am I really right? The river came all the way east, isn't there any danger?"

"Ah, there is! The river originates from the foot of Xingshan Mountain. That section of the waterway is extremely steep, turbulent and dangerous. There are more than ten large and small waterfalls. It is very dangerous to sail. But when you reach Tuhe City, the river becomes flat. Hundreds of miles downstream, the connection between the north and south tribes is connected by the river, which is very convenient."

"Very good!"

Tupa listened patiently and nodded. He looked at Kuikama deeply and smiled meaningfully.

"Kuikama, maybe it won't be long before you can return to Tuhe City. At that time, I hope you won't make the wrong choice."

The long river flows endlessly, making two big bends here and heading to Haikou in the north. Tupa looked at the river surface downstream again, and then led everyone to the siege battlefield in front of Hewan Village. Hewan Village was built along the river, between two river bends, and it was difficult to deploy troops. However, the terrain of the camp was not high, and there was a circle of low wooden walls and a circle of wooden fences on the outside. At this moment, people in Hewan Village were moving and shouting loudly. A large group of tribal hunters were holding hunting bows and javelins, gathering on the wooden walls for defense.

In front of Hewan Village, the Lake Legion had already deployed its battle line and was ready to attack the city. Hundreds of red-haired elites holding large bows, under the cover of the newly made shield carts, approached within a hundred steps and slowly shot arrows into the village.

The larger number of Totonak surrendered soldiers formed a loose formation and rushed to the camp under the command of the war drums. Most of them were bare-chested, holding stone axes and stone spears, and a few pioneer warriors held copper axes and tried to chop and destroy the fences and wooden walls. On the wooden wall, large groups of bows and javelins shot from time to time, shooting the surrendered soldiers to the ground, but no one dared to retreat for a while.

Tupa looked at it for a moment, bent his fingers slightly, and calculated silently in his mind. Under the cover of the superior bows and arrows, the casualties of the attacking and defending sides were roughly the same. Without the "powerful" attack of the copper cannon, the morale of the defenders was also very strong, and there was no sign of any wavering.

"What a pity! If there was enough gunpowder, it would be a piece of cake to attack these small villages."

Tupa pursed his lips and saw that the thousand vanguard surrendered soldiers who were the first to charge the battle formation had already lost one or two hundred people, showing signs of collapse. He shook his head, took out the conch he carried with him, and decisively blew the conch to withdraw the troops.

"Ding! Ding!"

When the conch horn sounded, the surrendered soldiers who charged the battle formation immediately breathed a sigh of relief and turned around to flee to the back. The tribal hunters on the wooden wall leaned out one after another and desperately shot arrows at the retreating enemy. However, a more fierce rain of arrows also attacked almost at the same time, shooting down the unarmored hunters on the top of the city.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!"

The red-haired dog race fired two more rounds before turning back. The Totonac militiamen lowered their heads, pushed the shield carts, and followed closely behind the dog race warriors. This wave of exploratory sieges ended here, and it was unknown whether there would be another battle in the afternoon.

"Chief Tupa! The vanguards have broken through the outer wooden fence and are about to climb the wooden wall. At this critical moment, why blow the conch shell to retreat?!"

The Totonac surrendered general Mu Xi hurried to the side of the main general Tupa. He bowed and asked, with a little anxiety on his face, and some incomprehensible anger hidden.

"This wave of vanguards rushed forward to disrupt the archers guarding the city. When they are almost dead and retreat, I will lead a thousand good old camps to climb the wooden wall and fight to the death! Maybe this riverside village can be captured!"

Tupa smiled and nodded slightly at the anxious Muli who was asking for a fight. The other party, as a surrendered general of Totonac, was more anxious to fight than himself, a commander of Mexica origin, and he didn't take the casualties of the surrendered soldiers seriously.

"Ha, it's really interesting!"

"What?"

"Oh, I mean don't be anxious. The siege can be done slowly for the time being."

"Don't be anxious, take your time?"

Muli was stunned, looked up and stared at Tupa's smiling face. He gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice.

"The Lord God is witnessing! Chief Tupa, yesterday morning, Hewan Village had already sent out messengers for help, rowing a small boat to Jinwan City downstream. Calculating the time, the reinforcements of Jinwan City can be dispatched at any time! If we wait for the enemy's reinforcements to arrive, it will be difficult to capture Hewan Village!"

"Haha! Don't worry, we just need the reinforcements of Jinwan City to arrive!"

Tupa laughed out loud, stretched out his hand, patted Muli's shoulder, and revealed the mystery.

"Hei Lang's leader has brought two thousand elites and ambushed in the north. It's okay if the reinforcements of Jinwan City don't come, but if they come, they will be eaten up!"

"Hei Lang's chief, set an ambush in the north? This is to lure out the reinforcements."

Muli suddenly realized. He stood there for a moment, not knowing what to say. Tupa smiled and whispered a few more words.

"Muli, the ambush is the responsibility of Black Wolf leader himself. The generals are basically unaware of it, and I am not hiding it from you. When the reinforcements from Jinwan City are dispatched, I will lead 1,500 elite soldiers to the north to support the leader. As for the camp of Hewan Village, it will be left to you to manage!"

The long river is surging and flowing, and canoes are shuttling back and forth on the river. Outside Hewan Village, the camp of the Lake Legion was silent for half a day until a red-haired scout came from the north at full speed and brought the latest and most important intelligence.

"The thousands of reinforcements from Jinwan City finally set out to the south half a day ago!"

When the news came, the camp was in an uproar. Three quarters of an hour later, the camp gate opened wide. Under the leadership of the commander Tupa, 1,500 elite warriors, all wearing armor, carrying bronze spears and axes, clanged northward.